WEST VIRGINIA CODE

(1) "Minority individual" means an individual who is a citizen
of the United States or a noncitizen who is in full compliance with
United States immigration law and who satisfies one or more of the
following definitions:

(A) "African American" means a person having origins in any of
the original peoples of Africa and who is regarded as such by the
community of which this person claims to be a part.

(B) "Asian American" means a person having origins in any of
the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian
subcontinent or the Pacific Islands, including, but not limited to,
Japan, China, Vietnam, Samoa, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, Northern
Mariana, the Philippines, a U.S. territory of the Pacific, India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka and who is regarded as such by
the community of which this person claims to be a part.

(C) "Hispanic American" means a person having origins in any
of the Spanish-speaking peoples of Mexico, South or Central
America, or the Caribbean Islands or other Spanish or Portuguese
cultures and who is regarded as such by the community of which this
person claims to be a part.

(D) "Native American" means a person having origins in any of
the original peoples of North America and who is regarded as such
by the community of which this person claims to be a part or who is
recognized by a tribal organization.

(2) "Minority-owned business" means a business concern that is
at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority
individuals or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or
limited liability company or other entity, at least fifty-one
percent of the equity ownership interest in the corporation,
partnership, or limited liability company or other entity is owned
by one or more minority individuals and both the management and
daily business operations are controlled by one or more minority
individuals.

(3) "Small business" means a business, independently owned or
operated by one or more persons who are citizens of the United
States or noncitizens who are in full compliance with United States
immigration law, which, together with affiliates, has two hundred
fifty or fewer employees, or average annual gross receipts of $10
million or less averaged over the previous three years.

(4) "State agency" means any authority, board, department,
instrumentality, institution, agency, or other unit of state
government. "State agency" does not include any county, city or
town.

(5) "Women-owned business" means a business concern that is at
least fifty-one percent owned by one or more women who are citizens
of the United States or noncitizens who are in full compliance with
United States immigration law, or in the case of a corporation,
partnership or limited liability company or other entity, at least
fifty-one percent of the equity ownership interest is owned by one or more women who are citizens of the United States or noncitizens
who are in full compliance with United States immigration law, and
both the management and daily business operations are controlled by
one or more women who are citizens of the United States or
noncitizens who are in full compliance with United States
immigration law.

(b) State agencies shall submit annual progress reports on
small, women and minority-owned business procurement to the
Department of Administration in a form specified by the Department
of Administration.

(c) The Department of Administration shall propose rules, for
legislative approval pursuant to article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a, to implement certification programs for small, women
and minority-owned businesses. These certification programs shall
deny certification to vendors from states that deny like
certifications to West Virginia-based small, women or
minority-owned businesses or that provide a preference for small,
women or minority-owned businesses based in that state that is not
available to West Virginia-based businesses. The rules shall:

(3) Mandate certification, without any additional paperwork or fee, of any prospective state vendor that has obtained
certification under any certification program that is determined to
meet the minimum requirements established in the regulations.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2016 Regular Session
The West Virginia Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.